Inner London's Future: Studies and Policies

Abstract

If we wish to seek the origins of recent research studies on inner London, * and the government's new policies for inner cities,** we must look to the late 1960s. That period marked a major turning point in the shaping of attitudes regarding the future development of London and of British cities generally. Conurbations had been subject to strategic planning under the strong influence of successive national governments since 1940, with the dispersal of people and jobs being officially encouraged through regional development policies, and through the development of new and expanded towns, the delineation of green belts and the development of a national motorway network. Parallel to these measures was a strong emphasis on the internal restructuring of the inner cities by quite massive redevelopment programmes, mainly sponsored by local authorities. These policies were reinforced in the earlyand midI960s as public expenditure on environmental planning grew in real terms. A further dimension was added in the mid1960swhen it was recognised that parts of the inner urban areas contained communities that still remained disadvantaged in housing, education and other aspects of social provision. A number of experimental programmes were begun again initiated by central government aiming to redress such local social stresses. These comprised the educational priority areas, community development projects, the definition of housing stress areas, and the urban programme. They aimed to assist groups of residents in situ, by selecting certain areas for special treatment. The programmes were small in scale, which reflected not merely the fact that the principal target groups comprised newly settled ethnic minorities and districts consisting predominantly of low skilled workers, but more particularly that the mainstream policies were still considered comprehensive and well founded and that all that was needed was a little extra for a few blackspots. Looking back to that period, it is apparent from the literature that very little thought was being given by those in authority, or by social scientists, to the side effects of national and regional policies within the inner city (though there was, it is true, a